14 Views from the Abandoned Unilever Factory in Toronto

If you had told me 10 years ago that I would spend Sunday walking around a soap factory for fun, I would have laughed. But that’s exactly what over 200 people signed up to do last Sunday at the former Unilever Factory on the east side of Toronto.

The 1940s soap plant is slated for redevelopment in the coming years, but in the meantime, has recently been made available for photos shoots and film production on thisopenspace, a marketplace that offers one-of-a-kind spaces for short-term rental.

Since its listing, the 7-story space has received a ton of interest, but at $10,000/day, it can be difficult to afford. So we decided to put together an event with the landlord, First Gulf, that allowed the creative community access for a day, for free. We called it #thisopenhouse.

Each person who showed up found their own unique perspective on the space. Their vision brought attention to different elements of the space. Guests’ interests ranged from using the venue for weddings to an emerging rapper taking the opportunity to shoot scenes for a music video. Most people, however, were looking for the perfect shot.

The Instagram community that our partners #paid and AJFernando brought out was incredible. It’s interesting to see the offline interaction of people who share an online passion. So far we’ve seen nearly a hundred perspectives on the space posted in Instagram. Here are 14 that reflect the variety of viewpoints of the photographers who attended the event.